Multinationals continue to see earnings constrained by the strong US dollar. Microsoft and The Proctor & Gamble Company are among the more recent names to report headwinds from dollar strength. So what type of companies benefit from the strong dollar? According to Wisdom Tree, "Foreign multinational companies have the potential to benefit from a strengthening dollar because their products become less expensive to U.S. consumers, which could increase sales."

Money is flowing into Blackrock's bond ETFs at a record pace.Bloomberg reports, "Investors have poured $19.6 billion into U.S. fixed-income ETFs this year through Feb. 12, with $12.2 billion flowing into BlackRock’s iShares-branded fixed income funds, the New York-based firm said today in an e-mail. Its iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF gathered $2.4 billion this year, the most of any fixed income ETF, followed by iShares Barclays Short Treasury Bond ETF, which took in $2.2 billion."

Reuters reports discount broker Charles Schwab has reached an agreement with regulators following accusations it marketed and sold illiquid auction-rate debt in 2009. Terms of the agreement with New York's attorney general were not disclosed.

According to Investment News, alternative product sponsors target RIAs for three reasons: "The need for diversification," the need for "high-yield products in a low-interest-rate environment," and because "a lot of brokers are moving into the RIA space and want to be able to offer their clients the same products they did before, including alts." However, many RIAs have been slow to gravitate towards the products because they have higher fees and lower liquidity.